No taxation without representation

Nigel Farage MEP, UKIP, Co-President of the EFD group, made the statement during a meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 20, 2010.

Transcript

Well, president Barroso, you’re certainly flexing your muscles, using the powers given to you with the Lisbon treaty which you pushed through using illegitimate means. You now do everything you can on the world stage and within the EU to acquire all the attributes of statehood.

And nowhere could that be more apparent than in your recent proposal for a direct tax to be levied by the European institutions on the peoples of this continent.

Of course in previous times there was a very successful independence movement that campaigned on the slogan of ‘No taxation witout representation’.

And you certainly, sir, are not a representative. We haven’t voted for you and we can’t remove you. So I think with this direct tax you actually made a mistake.

And what an expensive club it’s becoming. Just two years ago, Britain’s net contribtuion was £3 billion a year. This year it’s £6 billion. Next year it will be £8 billion. The year after that, it’s due to be £10 billion. And now we hear that you want to take away the British rebate. You want to get rid of the British rebate, which will mean by 2013 our contribution will be £13 billion. It would have quadrupled in the space of six years.

And simply, the taxpayers of Britain, realising all of this, seeing your direct tax will conclude that we simply can’t afford the European Union.

But I do see a ray of hope. The Doville deal between Merkel and Sarkozy — the thing that you’re all so terrified of today — I hope it happens.

Let’s have a new treaty. You yourself seem to be almost supporting it (to Barroso). Let’s have a new European treaty and let’s put it to a referendum — in lots of countries, particularly in Britain, and the British people will conclude that this is a very bad deal for Britain, they’ll vote for us to leave the European Union and begin the unravelling… [sarcastic applause]… Thank you. We;ll be happy to go, thank you.

h/t to Gates of Vienna